This week at St. Michael's

Please come along to St. Michaels and collect a bulletin
from the porch of the church
which will detail all masses and intentions for the coming week.

18th February 2018,
The First Sunday of Lent

View Verse of the Day

READINGS:

First Reading Genesis 9:8-15
God establishes a covenant with Noah, giving a rainbow as its sign.

ResponsorialPsalm Psalm 25:4-5,6-7,8-9
A prayer praising God for his covenant “Your ways, Lord,
are faithfulness and love for those who keep your covenant.”

Second Reading 1 Peter 3:18-22
In our baptism, we are saved through Christ’s death and Resurrection.

Gospel Reading Mark 1:12-15
Jesus is tempted in the desert by Satan.

Background on the Gospel Reading

On the first Sunday of Lent, the Gospel reading in each Lectionary cycle
is about Jesus’ temptation in the desert. This event in the life of Jesus
is reported in each of the Synoptic Gospels—Matthew, Mark, and Luke—but
it is not found in John’s Gospel. This year we read Mark’s account of
this event.

Compared to the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, the details throughout Mark’s
narrative are sparse. This is evident in Mark’s account of Jesus’ temptation
in the desert. Mark tells us only that Jesus was led into the desert by
the Spirit and that for 40 days he was tempted by Satan. The Gospels of
Matthew and Luke explain that Jesus fasted while in the desert, that Satan
presented him with three temptations, and that Jesus refused each one,
quoting Scripture. Only the Gospels of Matthew and Mark report that angels
ministered to Jesus at the end of his time in the desert.

In each of the Synoptic Gospels, the temptation of Jesus follows his
baptism by John the Baptist. In Mark’s Gospel, we are told that Jesus
went into the desert immediately after his baptism, led by the Spirit.
Jesus’ public ministry in Galilee begins after his temptation in the desert.
Mark’s Gospel makes a connection between the arrest of John the Baptist
and the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. Jesus’ preaching about the Kingdom
of God is in continuity with the preaching of John the Baptist, but it
is also something new. As Jesus announces it, the Kingdom of God is beginning;
the time of the fulfillment of God’s promises is here.
The fact that Jesus spent 40 days in the desert is significant. This recalls
the 40 years that the Israelites wandered in the desert after being led
from slavery in Egypt. The prophet Elijah also journeyed in the desert
for 40days and nights, making his way to Horeb, the mountain of God, where
he was also attended to by an angel of the Lord. Remembering the significance
of these events, we also set aside 40 days for the season of Lent.

In Mark’s Gospel, the desert marks beginning of Jesus’ battle with Satan;
the ultimate test will be in Jesus’ final hours on the cross. In a similar
way, our Lenten observances are only a beginning, a preparation for and
a reinforcement of our ongoing struggle to resist the temptations we face
in our lives. During Lent, we are led by the Holy Spirit to remember the
vows of Baptism in which we promised to reject sin and to follow Jesus.
Just as Jesus was ministered to by the angels, God also supports us in
our struggle against sin and temptation. We succeed because Jesus conquered
sin once and for all in his saving death on the cross.

Copyright: St Michael's Catholic Church, Houghton-Le-Spring
2018
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